Josh Moon's Just Saying: Positive message, wrong signal?

Montgomery Police Chief Kevin Murphy told the criminals that they would be brought to justice. The city of Montgomery offered up a $5,000 reward for their capture. The Montgomery district attorney asked the governor for another $5,000 from the state. And a task force of state and federal officials has been formed to look into the problem.

Another murder?

Nope. A home invasion in an upscale neighborhood.

It was a curious spectacle last week, as city leaders promised unprecedented resources to solve what has become a rather common crime in the tri-county area. The passion and anger caught many people - myself included - a little by surprise.

Now, don't get me wrong, what happened on Bell Road the Friday before last shouldn't happen. The good people who live in that home, police tell us, were tied up, assaulted and robbed. Those homeowners undoubtedly don't feel safe in their own home today because of what happened, and that's a horrible feeling.

The criminals who did this should be brought to justice and I don't care if they see the light of day for several years. I hope the $11,000 reward for capture - the neighbors chipped in another $5,000 and Crimestoppers added $1,000 - brings a quick close to the case. And I think it's great that the city and DA's office are behind this and offering money.

But surely you all get the message this sends, right?

You've had 22 murders. There were 71 robberies in the city from the first of the year until April. There were 44 aggravated assaults and four sexual assaults.

Not one of those crimes garnered this sort of response.

Why? I'm not sure. But if you're a city leader, the head of the office that prosecutes criminals or the head of the outfit that chases them down, you have to know the impression that gives.

Almost all of those other crimes occurred in the not-so-affluent neighborhoods to not-so-affluent people.

Intentional or not, the message you've just sent is that these people in this upscale part of town matter more. Not because of their race, because these victims weren't white. But because of their financial situation.

And this isn't the first time that message has been sent.

As police have struggled to get a grasp on the violent crime wave that has swept through the city over the first four months of the year, the public response and talking points used by city leaders has often undercut their work.

For example, it doesn't do a group of police officers who are trying to connect with folks in the most crime-infested neighborhoods any good if the mayor and director of public safety are routinely on TV and radio telling people that most of the 22 murder victims are people who are committing other crimes - prostitutes and drug dealers and gang members.

I understand the intent of the message. And at its core, it's mostly true and accurate. Many of these victims did take on unnecessary risk by participating in illegal activity. And if we're in the business of ranking the severity of murder, I guess it's true enough that the killing of a law-abiding, upstanding citizen is more tragic than that of a person participating in a drug deal.

But to say it cheapens the death of a human being.

And more importantly, it drives an even bigger wedge between the two parts of this city - Poor Montgomery and Comfortable Montgomery.

That's not what we need.

We don't need anyone to be comfortable with what's happening around here. We need a lot of people to take notice, to get involved and to get some things fixed.

The simple fact is the police can't fix this problem - not by themselves. City leaders can't do it by themselves.

It's going to take the majority of the people in this city. It's going to take some uncomfortable conversations and uncomfortable actions.

But the way we've been doing things - essentially building a wall around parts of Montgomery and pretending as if they don't exist - isn't going to work anymore. Talking about the pathetic traditional public schools as you're writing out a private school tuition check won't cut it. And pretending as if the crime wave in the city doesn't really involve you, won't work either.

Sure, you can keep trying to live this way if you want. You can go right on watching and reading news reports of Montgomery citizens killed or robbed and treating those crimes as if they're happening in some faraway city, unconnected to where you live and work.

But as the Bell Road crime shows, that only works for so long.

And you're not going to solve a crime like that one by beefing up security around Bell Road and in other neighborhoods like that one. Because you're not solving a problem at that point - you're addressing one.

If we hope to solve some of the problems we have, we have to start doing things differently. The Montgomery Police Department has already started, and many of its leaders should be commended for the work they're doing to reach out and bridge gaps that long ago should have been addressed.

It's time for everyone else to get on board, too.

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Josh Moon's Just Saying: Positive message, wrong signal?

Montgomery Police Chief Kevin Murphy told the criminals that they would be brought to justice. The city of Montgomery offered up a $5,000 reward for their capture.

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